Sometimes A Nail Is Just A Nail

I was planning on blogging about a man on my roof yesterday morning. Then, I thought about the near sentimental loss of a nail. And while I was thinking of just how to bring them into the conversation, I found two things online that I could also mention. So, what does one do in a case like this? One puts to use his long windedness and talks about it all. It’s Friday, it’s supposed to snow like the dickens today, so sit back, relax and read.

Before I go on, I have to mention the passing of legendary actress Frances Reid, who portrayed Grandma Alice Horton on the soap opera Days Of Our Lives, the role she created when the show premiered in 1965 and played until her final screen appearance in 2007, even though her presence was “felt” since, thanks to clever script writing. The official cause of death of the 95 year old actress, which occurred on Wednesday, has not yet been disclosed.

Oh, and how’s this? Because of a mixup with our Unilazies that I was talking about yesterday, the vendor contacted Ariel by email, who in turn replied and mentioned I had blogged about it. The vendor guy, David, then emailed me, because I was copied on the entire transaction and gave me a complimentary compliment on my blog and hoped that after we tried them out I would post a favorable review.

History? Or a despicable attempt to exalt a filthy past? If you haven’t heard, a new popular iPhone app is being removed after legal threats against iMussolini. The app allows users to download speeches and video clips of the former Italian dictator. The legal matter comes from the from the film institute where the images came from, whose representative says the application is an aberration, far removed from the educational purposes for which the clips should be used. Jewish groups and holocaust survivors say it’s offensive that it legitimizes fascism and is the rehabilitation of Mussolini. Well, yes, all the atrocities of WWII are offensive, but to say the educational value is offensive is ridiculous. Education, in no matter what topic, should never be thought of as offensive. Learning is living even if sometimes the lesson is a harsh one. Should history books be rewritten? Should TV’s History Channel never speak of ‘history’ again? Should everyone who has learned about it have a lobotomy to wipe if from their memories? Keeping the past hidden doesn’t mean it never happened. Personally, I think some people just have to much to say. Apps are optional to buy. Don’t buy it if you don’t want it on your own phone. It’s as easy as that, like changing the channel on TV or the radio dial when you’re not enjoying what’s on, like say, for instance The Jersey Shore. That kind of legitimizes people’s eagerness to watch stupid television shows. I don’t like it, so I don’t watch it. Grow up, people…try freedom of choice. Apple says it will reinstitute the app once the matter is cleared up.

I was working yesterday morning and through the office window I saw a truck backing up at the bottom of my driveway, up against my garage. What the…. I put on my “I’m ready for fight going outside clothes” and by the time I went out to see what the hubbub was, the guy was up on the roof. I couldn’t see him at first but I could hear him. I didn’t want to shout and startle him because then I’d have to deal with “mangled man” after he stumbled and fell. Then I heard a familiar sound, the sound of a Mylar band snapping into its casing. Then I caught sight of the contractor guy who was working next door and it turns out it was his guy taking measurements so he can work up an estimate for a new roof along with the addition we’re hoping to put on the house.

You know I finally filled out my wall calendar–I think I mentioned it a few blogs back–and it hangs on a nail in the kitchen, that doesn’t exactly fit so tightly into the plaster wall like it once did, but we know that and we’re careful. Last night, by accident, the calendar got knocked into, jarring the nail f rom the wall. Couldn’t find it, couldn’t find it. Maybe because I had shoes on, because you know, one barefoot trip through the kitchen and I would have found it. It’s the same principle that makes food container covers fall food encrusted bottom down on the floor. Armed with a flashlight, I lowered myself to the floor to look underneath the hutch and I found the nail, with my knee. That nail was in the wall when we bought the house and it’s been holding my calendars in that spot ever since, now over 11 years. I know, it’s just a nail, but this is the kind of person you’re dealing with.